Santa was really on top of things this year and found the greatest gift for budding fashionistas...Harumika .

Harumika Design Dress Forms are big on fashion but the perfect gift for a small budget

Harumika comes with a small plastic dress form, fabric swatches, and even some accessories. The dress form has a slit in the back with rubber edges so when you press the fabric into the slit it stays. I'm sure that when Santa eyed this toy he knew it would be fun for the Twofer....and me.

Here are a few designs:

And this was one of Em's:

Expand your Harumika Wardrobe

It didn't take long for the girls to start asking about new 'outfits'. I realized I had a whole bag of fabric leftover from my more creative/ ambitious/ maternal days of sewing. I might think about getting another dress form and hitting the fabric store for some cord and other items we can use as belts, etc.

Note: Santa delivered this product and paid for it himself. Any opinions about Harumika are my own and no one at Harumika or their PR company reviewed this prior to posting. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure this review will rank high enough in their Google Alerts to even show up so they may never know what a fan of their product I really am. And if they are listening...feel free to contact me!

Dear L & M:With all the excitement of Disney I neglected to actually wish you a happy birthday here on my blog. Mark that as just another example of how your mother is not perfect. But you already knew that.So let me officially welcome you to your childhood years. These are magical years. They are magical because you will enjoy magic without worrying who else believes in it. You will enjoy getting dressed up because you love the dress, and not because the other girls are doing it. You will continue to play in the dirt, with worms, and climb trees just because you can. You will discover new skills, have new experiences, and even a few disappointments. And you will learn and grow from it all.

Mturning 1

These are years that you will start to test your independence...and my patience. You will say things to me that I don't want to hear (and I will let you know you've crossed a line). And yet I know you will still cuddle with me, let me read you a book, and most importantly, laugh at my jokes.

L enjoying her 1st birthday

I want you to enjoy these years. I want them to be free of stress and drama because I know what lies ahead in the murky waters of the lands they call Tween and Teen. What you learn now will help you navigate those waters. I will do my best to help you grow to be confident, respectful (of yourself and others), and hopefully love yourself for who you are.

Because I love you just the way you are.

M & L on their 6th Birthday

In six short years you have grown so much. Already I have seen you puff yourself up with bravery to try new things, confront difficult situations, and even learn to forgive. But don't grow up too fast. Now is the time to slow it down, enjoy these childhood days, savor the magic.

Now that my twins are in kindergarten I get to hear about all kinds of games they cram into just 30 minutes of recess. Mostly these consist of games with teams: the girls vs. boys teams, the good vs. bad teams, and jump rope.

One day last week they came home with a piece of yarn leftover from a measuring project and asked me to tie the ends together. Then M wrapped the ends around her two hands and waited for L to do something...except that L had no idea what to do and so the two of them sat there staring at the yard around M's hands.

I have no idea how long this would have gone on without my finally saying, "Are you trying to play Cat's Cradle?"

And that's when I realized that my little babies are soon going to be playing the games I used to LOVE to play with my friends outside at recess. These games are different than your classic board games like Chutes and Ladders and card games like Old Maid and Go Fish, which we often played with our parents.

There are 3 classic "kids-only" games we played simply because most adults at that time could not follow them. It also seems that every child of the 80s grew up learning at least one of these, if not all. And apparently, they are still around. I can't wait to share them with my girls...for as long as they'll let me.

Miss Mary Mack

The earliest of these games in pat-a-cake. But recently I came across a Miss Mary Mack book that had more verses than I had ever heard. Plus, there were intricate hand movements that went like this:Cross arms, slap thighs, clap together, clap right hands, clap left hands, clap right hands.

And here's how the song (if you call it that) went:Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack All dressed in black, black, black With silver buttons, buttons, buttons All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother For 50 cents, cents, cents To see the elephants, elephants, elephants Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

They jumped so high, high, high They reached the sky, sky, sky And they didn't come back, back, back 'Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

This simple little string makes the most complicated toy.I remember playing by myself on those long car rides to Vermont. I also remember making my older brother play with me when I wanted to do the 2-person version...which later lead to me being forced to play the football 'hand-held' game that was actually more the size of a laptop but that's another post.

The only ones I can remember are Cat's Cradle, Witches Broom and Jacob's Ladder but if you gave me a string I'd be hard pressed to know how to do any of them. And that's where I give a BIG Twofer Thumbs Up to, what else? YouTube! YouTube will keep all of these games alive for generations to come.

Remember the chant, "In-out-side-side-on-in-out" as 2 people stretch the rope around their legs while you try to jump to the chant without messing up the order?We used to spend the entire recess taking turns jumping and judging, and I have the distinct honor of being the one to have Dr. Scholl'sbanned from school after my sandals went flying off my feet nearly clocking a teacher on the head. The jump rope started out low around the ankles and moved up higher as long as you didn't miss.

(Babysitter version was to put the jump rope around your neck and see who could 'jump' it without a) breaking an arm or b) taking out one of the rope holders.)Do you remember these and can you add to my memory of them? I know I'm missing some of those Cat's Cradle moves especially.

It's no surprise that as twins, the Twofer seem to have their own unique way of playing with each other. They already know the object of the game, the characters involved, and the adventure they are going on as they wander down the stairs with their walkie-talkies, binoculars, and sunglasses.

It's a daily dose of improv in my house:

M/Chicosay: "Calling Toofree, calling Toofree. Where's the mazradeur we need? Have you located it yet?"

L/Toofree: "It's in the clubhouse. I'm heading there now. Can you meet me Chicosay? Bring the flashlights!"

They also have designated roles that they play which doesn't really seem fair to me, but what do I know? I'm just the 3rd wheel they call Mom.

Sometimes they are both fairies, adventurers, etc. Still, for the most part they have reached an agreement on this without ever discussing it. An older sibling will engage the younger one in a particular role. With twins (my twins, anyway) they seem to automatically know.

And they seem happy like that...usually for at least an hour.Nothing lasts forever.